Reviews
The West Tech Terrorist
Peter Jedick
CoolCleveland.com
December 12, 2007
Reviewed by Managing Editor Peter Chakerian
Prior to the start of World War II, Nazi sympathizers in the United States attempted to lock up support for their movement by stealthily creeping into any and every organization they could – including high schools. Rocky River author and West Tech High School alum Peter Jedick tells of one such effort in his latest novel, The West Tech Terrorist. And from the opening scenes at the 1941 National Air Races in Cleveland, he takes the reader on a gripping, intriguing period piece with his alma mater as the backdrop.
Narrator Victor Blazek is a sports reporter for a pub called the West Tech Tatler, and he isn’t at all interested in interviewing a WT chemistry teacher (who’s working with the War Department) when a faculty advisor asks him to. All that changes with the shock-and-awe bombing of Pearl Harbor; suddenly, Blazek becomes obsessed with the secrets that teacher Mr. Fleming might be harboring. From there, the junior journalist adds the job private detective to his danc… er, press card.
Cleveland references abound in this fondly staged representation of Jedick’s school – combined with a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew-style mystery and smartly crafted historical allegory. Even Eliot Ness works his way into the novel. In all, the West Tech Terrorist is as much a love letter to the region and its history, as it is a compelling period-piece read. Well worth checking out — a great, locally-focused read for those ravenous book fiends on your holiday gift list.
The Western Reserve Historical Society Newsletter
January, 2008
By Melissa Murray
One such special item in the Gift Shop is a book penned by Cleveland author Peter Jedick. Like our exhibit, WWII Up Front and Personal, it tells the story of Clevelanders during The War, but with a fictionalized twist. The West Tech Terrorist tells the story of a student at West Tech High School in the early 1940’s who suspects a plot to blow up a Cleveland defense plant by a group of Nazi sympathizers who happen to be his fellow students. Our intrepid hero teams up with his girlfriend and recruits infamous Clevelander crime fighter Eliot Ness to help uncover the plot, and ultimately, save the city.
The West Tech Terrorist is a thrilling mystery akin to the classic tales of The Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. But because of the timeliness with its themes of terrorism, school safety and espionage, it has been eliciting positive acclaim from readers ages 10-80.
Step back into the 1940’s in Cleveland when West Tech High was one of the finest schools in the country, when Eliot Ness ruled the streets as Safety Director, and when under everyone’s noses, German Bund clubs infiltrated schools to try to convert idealistic American youth to Nazi fascism.
Peter Jedick is a local author of national renown. He has been receiving praise for his new book such as this from a West Tech alumnus, “The West Tech Terrorist was a fun read, especially growing up in the area and knowing all the locations. You could actually visualize every move of the story.”
The West Tech Terrorist (240 pages, soft cover) costs $14.95.
OHIO MAGAZINE
November, 2007
Time Travel
By Linda Feagler
What happens when a high-school newspaper editor teams up with legendary crime fighter Eliot Ness? Rocky River author Peter Jedick takes readers on a journey back to 1941 and his Cleveland alma mater, West Tech High School, where a Nazi plan to obliterate a defense plant is afoot. Can the dynamic duo save the city? Only The West Tech Terrorist knows for sure.
The Akron Beacon Journal
November 18, 2007
World War II Intrigue Fills Cleveland Novel
By Barbara McIntyre
Before and during World War II, Nazi sympathizers in the United States tried to line up support by infiltrating organizations, including those in high schools. Rocky River author Peter Jedick tells of one such effort in his novel, The West Tech Terrorist.
Jedick, himself an alumnus of West Tech High School, begins his story at the 1941 National Air Races at Cleveland’s Edgewater Beach, where three teen boys see a boat approach them on the beach. Some men say something in a foreign language; then the boat disappears. On their way home, they find two men taking pictures of the bomber plant, next to the airport.
The narrator, Victor Blazek, is a sports reporter for The West Tech Tatler, and isn’t too interested when his faculty advisor tells him to interview a school chemistry teacher who’s going to do some work for the War Department. The teacher is tight-lipped and, after the school is shocked by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Victor becomes obsessed with discovering what Mr. Fleming is hiding.
While writing for The Tatler, working at the grocery store and dating Doris the clarinet player, Victor has to make time to sleuth. But Doris is a good sport, and she helps with surveillance on the suspects. Soon Eliot Ness himself appears to close the case.
Jedick makes no secret of his affection for his alma mater, from its delicious lunches to its larger-than-life principal, C.C. Tuck. The West Tech Terrorist (240 pages, soft cover) costs$14.95 from https://www.westtechterrorist.com.
Cleveland’s West Life Newspaper
November 14, 2007
Local Author Uses High School And History as Backdrops to Novel
By Ben Saylor
The Beach Boys once sang, “Be true to your school.” West Technical alumnus Peter Jedick has done that and then some by featuring his alma mater prominently in his new novel “The West Tech Terrorist.”
Jedick, a Rocky River resident and Cleveland fire fighter, uses his old high school, which has since been converted into luxury apartments, as the setting for a fictional World War II-era mystery. In it, protagonist Victor Blazek, sports editor for the school newspaper The Tatler, stumbles upon a plot within the school to blow up a Cleveland defense plant. The result is a lovingly-detailed portrait of Jedick’s alma mater combined with a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys-style mystery, which Jedick said was what he was aiming for in writing the book. Jedick said he wanted to write something that would appeal to readers young and old. Even the cover illustration by Louis P. Grasso, is a throwback to the mystery novels of yesteryear.
In addition to the mystery plot, Jedick also includes a romance between Blazek and a fellow student named Doris, who becomes his girl Friday as they work to crack the case. Jedick even includes legendary crime fighter Eliot Ness in the proceedings.
West Tech alumni can look to references to their school; legendary principal C.C. Tuck appears in the story, and Blazek at one point is inducted into Tuck’s “track team,” a group of students who had to run in the morning for breaking school rules. There are also Cleveland specific references; the opening chapter is set during the National Air Races at Cleveland Municipal Airport.
In writing the book, Jedick told West Life he wanted to “show off West Tech,” calling it “the kind of school they need nowadays.” At one point, West Tech was the largest high school in the state of Ohio. Jedick graduated from the school in 1967; his father, Peter, graduated in 1942, which is around the time much of “The West Tech Terrorist” takes place.
Jedick, a member of the West Tech Alumni Association, is happy that the West Tech facility was preserved when it was converted into the apartments.
“They saved the building,” Jedick said. “They really saved it.”
The book has already drawn praise from West Tech alumni and faculty. Jedick has appeared on WMJI’s “Lanigan and Malone” show to discuss the book. He will be at Borders Books and Music at the Promenade in Westlake to sign copies of the book this Saturday from 2-4 p.m. He will be at the Barnes and Noble at Crocker Park on December 1 from 1-3 p.m.
“The West Tech Terrorist” is Jedick’s fourth book, following “League Park” and “CLEVELAND: Where the East Coast Meets the Midwest,” both of which are non-fiction works, and “HIPPIES,” a work of fiction set at Kent State University during the time leading up to the May 4, 1970 shootings. Jedick is a Kent State alum.
CLEVELAND’S SUN NEWSPAPERS
November 1, 2007
Author Goes Back to Class for Latest Book
By Sara Macho
People say it’s best to write what you know. For Cleveland history buff and local author Peter Jedick, that’s a lot.
In his fourth book, “The West Tech Terrorist,” Jedick, 58, of Rocky River returns to his high school alma mater and through the eyes of his main character, Victor Blazek, explores the suspenseful plot of a student Nazi group. Like Jedick once was, Blazek is the sports editor of the high school’s newspaper The Tatler, and uses his journalistic skills to uncover clues.
Throughout the story, Jedick, truly respectful of history, preserves the accuracy of Cleveland in the early 1940s, just before Pearl Harbor struck. Although born in Los Angeles, he migrated back east with his parents and attended St. Patrick’s West Park, West Technical High School and nearby Kent State University.
“Cleveland’s always been my home,” Jedick, also a Cleveland fire fighter, said. “My whole life is here.”
His past works include “League Park,” a historical account of Cleveland’s first baseball stadium, “CLEVELAND: Where the East Coast Meets the Midwest” and “HIPPIES,” a love story set on the campus of Kent State University weeks before the May 4 shootings. Jedick, who lost two friends in the shootings, attended the university during the tumultuous time and wrote for The Daily Kent Stater.
Throughout his writing career, he has written for all the major publications throughout the city, including The Plain Dealer, Cleveland Magazine, The Cleveland Press, The Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine, Avenues Magazine and Sun Newspapers. He has received a variety of local honors including a spot in the West Tech Hall of Fame and second place in the Ohio Print Division of the Ohio Excellence in Journalism Competition.“The West Tech Terrorist” is on bookshelves now.